After watching his team lose the game in the fourth quarter for the fifth time in the past eight weeks, Houston Texans coach Gary Kubiak wasn’t much in the mood Sunday to talk about returning to Denver or what he thought about Tim Tebow’s potential.

But for this game, Kubiak couldn’t have been more impressed with the Broncos rookie quarterback.

“(Tebow) is impressive,” Kubiak said. “He is a winner. He made a lot of plays off schedule. He is very composed in what he is doing.”

That speaks volumes about Tebow’s future, considering Kubiak is regarded as a quarterbacks guru. As a player, Kubiak backed up John Elway from 1983 to 1991 and later served as the Broncos’ offensive coordinator (1995-2005).

“I thought (Tebow) threw the ball exceptionally well,” Kubiak added. “He is exactly what you thought coming out of college. He will find a way to make a play. He will find a way to move the chains. He found a way to win a game today, and that’s what the league is all about.”

When asked by a reporter how far away the 4-11 Broncos are from rebuilding into a consistent winner, Kubiak said he is only concerned with his own (5-10) team.

“I don’t know about the Broncos; I know the Texans are really struggling right now,” Kubiak said. “That was my first look at (the Broncos), getting ready to play them this week. They were good enough to beat us, so I am impressed with what they did.”

Tebow, 1-1 as a starter after replacing Kyle Orton, passed for 208 yards in the second half to spark the comeback. At halftime, Tebow had only 100 yards passing and the Broncos trailed 17-0.

“He looked like he was more comfortable in the second half,” Texans linebacker Zac Diles said of Tebow. “They had him throwing screens and short passes. (But) the man can play football.”

Houston cornerback Glover Quin pointed out that Tebow became effective in different ways, with passes, scrambles and even calling running plays.

“He did what he does,” Quin said.

Yet another close loss keeps Kubiak on the hot seat, and those in Houston may be losing patience. In his first job as a head coach, Kubiak stands 36-43 in his fifth season. Kubiak was given a long honeymoon to build the franchise, and it appeared things were headed in the right direction in 2009, when the Texans won their last four games to finish with the first winning season (9-7) in the team’s history.

That makes this year’s disappointment even harder to take.

“We found another way to get beat today,” Kubiak said. “We had a chance to win the game at the end, but that’s the way it’s been (going).”

Five games into the season, second-year Avalanche forward J.T. Compher suffered a concussion, suddenly putting a halt to a campaign with so much promise. The former University of Michigan captain missed 16 games from Oct. 16 to Nov. 21, returning the day after Thanksgiving with a two-goal performance at Arizona in which he scored shorthanded -- twice -- on the...